GUIDE [WIP] DDSopt & Texture Overhauls

[z929669]

Discussion thread:
DDSopt Guide by STEP
Wiki Link

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GET DDSopt:
Github Pre-release versions
Official Nexus versions (select pre-release update 4)

[EssArrBee]

I don't actually remember doing that page. It was a long time ago now. I'm pretty sure it's from all the vanilla and mod textures. There's NMC's, Poco Bueno, some mod that I removed from the guide and forgot was in the DDSOpt part, and a bunch of other stuff. 

[z929669]

I noticed after running through the Guide for F&L that my Vanilla Optimized folder is only ~3GB where the Guide says you'll need about 30GB of space. Something seems off here! The log was clean like it should have been. I did notice while following the instructions that several sections were grayed out in DDSopt as if they weren't going to be processed for some reason and it looks like they may not have been. Anyone know what is going on here? (did I mention I dislike DDSopt...why hasn't someone created these and uploaded them to Nexus? ...now that Bethesda said we can do that sort of thing.)

 

gray are files existing only in the destination ... review the DDSopt Guide. It is organized by tab, so it is easy to find all the info you need to run the program. That's the browser tab, so all you want to know about the info you see on that tab is located in the guide. I would advise you to abort using the batch files if you want to understand what is happening. the guide is descriptive and simple to reference (use the TOC).

 

I have even gone through the pain of indicating uncertainties and spurious functionality (in yellow)

[Kelmych]

A while ago I suggested that STEP upload the optimized Fallout textures to get some visibility in the Fallout mod community. There wasn't much interest, and there was a comment that they should exclude textures in the guide. I don't agree with this for Fallout since the guides provide a recommended set of mods to use with the expectation that users will use portions of the mods in the guide; there isn't a direct equivalent of the STEP core mod set that includes a large set of textures. For Fallout I feel a mod with optimized vanilla textures should include all the textures that make sense to optimize.

 

I agree with Z that understanding what DDSopt does is useful, but most Fallout users don't seem to have interested in this. The batch files I created allow both experienced users and those with little interest in DDSopt itself to reduce some of the tedious steps in optimizing. I didn't expect that everyone would use them. The batch files exclude the textures that we know don't make sense to optimize; this is based on experience in optimizing Fallout textures and something that most users wouldn't know.

[TechAngel85]

Thanks guys. i just used the ones from the link that Ess posted.

[Strider_Lacosse]

This may seem an frivolous question.  Is there a way around using this program, and having a repository of files that have been already optimized? Specifically I am following the STEP guide for Skyrim.  My processor is only amd 955BE@3.55.  Its taking forever to run the files through.  Specifically I just did the textures for Falskaard.  I don't understand why there would not be able to be a location for the files on the internet for modders to just download? Or is it that the files are specific to a system's setup? 

 

Any insight would be welcome.

STrider

[Nebulous112]

Hi Strider,

If you are using STEP, download the STEP Vanilla Optimized Textures linked to in the fixes section. No need to use DDSopt.

However, Falskaar is not a part of the STEP guide. Are you perhaps using SR:LE? I know Neo has different instructions regarding optimizing textures.

 

Edit: Also, this isn't the best place for questions. This forum is for suggestions and discussions regarding wiki guides and tutorials. Not support. There is a whole DDSopt forum for support here: https://forum.step-project.com/forum/59-ddsopt-support/

[Kelmych]

If you are using SR:LE then the STEP Vanilla Textures aren't directly relevant unless you also use all of the mods in STEP:Core. You can also try using Optimized Vanilla Textures instead of using DDSopt to do the optimization yourself; these work with SR:LE. These are just the vanilla Skyrim textures. You will need to optimize mod textures like Falskaar yourself, assuming they need optimization. Most mods don't need additional texture optimization unless you are trying to reduce texture resolution and VRAM use vs. just improving texture quality.